Challenge #45 Answers.Alrighty, answer time. I've received 11 entries and overall the scores were very good. Like I said, it's a fairly easy challenge and there were three 10/10's and five 9/10's. The average score was 8.72/10. So well done guys and gals.
Bird 1: African Barred Owlet - Only 1 person got this one wrong with African Wood Owl which has a very prominent white face and dark eyes.
Bird 2: African Painted Snipe - This bird fooled nobody with his silly breakdancing and everyone got it right.
Bird 3: Freckled Nigthjar - Again, only one incorrect entry with Fiery-necked Nightjar. The Freckled Nightjar is unique in that it has no noticeable markings really. No white or cream wing spots, no rufous collar, no streaking on the back, no white throat patch, no wing bars, nothing. It's just a generally dark bird.
Bird 4: Jackal Buzzard - I was hoping to catch out a few of you with this one and I caught out only 3. The rest had it all right. So the important thing to note is that Jackal Buzzard does have a pale form in which the rufous on the breast is paler or even white. The pale forms occur across their entire range but is particularly common in the northern Cape.
This bird shows some pale rufous feathers in the breast, which is enough already to ID it as Jackal Buzzard but the dark thighs also rule out Augur Buzzard which would have a bone white breast, belly and thighs.
Bird 5: Bennett's Woodpecker - Also 11/11 correct entries for this one. Well done. I thought that, seeing as the underparts are not visible in the pic it might pose some ID challenge but you all rose to the challenge brilliantly.
Bird 6: African Emerald Cuckoo - Received 3 incorrect entries. I'm going to assume that the answer of Black Cuckoo came from someone who still uses a Hercules Monochrome monitor
No but seriously, there is no plumage, age or sex of Black Cuckoo that shows any green tones in the plumage and certainly not the bill or eye ring. African Paradise Flycatcher do show some colour on the head and bare parts but they're shades of blue, not green.
Generaly though, I doubt that African Emerald Cuckoo would be confused with either of these two species in a real world environment.
Bird 7: Black-bellied Bustard - Another full house. No problems ID'ing this bird.
Bird 8: American Purple Gallinule - Only one incorrect entry which was for Purple Gallinule and I suspect that the omission of the "American" prefix was probably just a slip of the mind or a slip of the finger. If the yellow tipped bill and small blue frontal shield weren't good enough, the bright yellow legs provide the dead giveaway.
Bird 9: Lizard Buzzard - I was hoping that this one would catch more of you out but I received only one incorrect entry for Gabar Goshawk. With the head turned sideways, the throat stripe isn't clearly visible but some white can still be seen. Other than that, it's a stockier bird than Gabar Goshawk but most noticeably the tail is much shorter with only a single white band on the undertail.
https://www.box.com/s/rt0tg1fint9mtswvpabiBird 10: Lizard Buzzard - I thought I'd be sneaky by throwing in a bird call and using a species that has already featured in the challenge
The call was correctly identified by 7/11 participants with incorrect entries ranging from African Fish-Eagle to Great Spotted Cuckoo. While Great Spotted Cuckoo has one call that is somewhat similar in rhythm, it has a very different timbre, more "hoarse" in a manner of speaking.
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. On the 
already (hi Micetta). Thanks to Deefstes for the results of the last challenge. I'll have to check that call out 
. Have fun all.
